Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools To Discuss Mask Mandate After County

CHARLOTTE, NC — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will discuss their mask mandate following Mecklenburg County's discussion Wednesday night.

CMS' mask mandate conversation will happen at their next meeting, Feb. 22. Mecklenburg County is expected to drop the county mandate at the behest of county health officials who note that COVID cases are declining statewide and so are hospitalizations.

Rhonda Lennon Cheek, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools District Board member, will encourage schools to follow Mecklenburg County's lead and drop their mask mandate as well.

She says she is concerned for kids and believes cloth masks are ineffective.

"We also need to look at the impact of masking on children, including their social, emotional health and issues with language development. We already know that remote learning lead to huge drops in academic outcomes. What are the impacts of masking in children? I’m hearing from teachers who are concerned children are struggling with language and phonetics because of masks," Cheek said.

"I also urge them to consider aligning our CMS mask policy completely with the county and have no additional discretionary factors," Cheek continued.

For the county level, Dr. Raynard Washington indicated last week that he would recommend the mandate be dropped following reduced case counts.

"I just want to share with you guys if we are in a position that this continues, we'll be in a position to make a recommendation to you guys to rescind the mask mandate," said Washington last week.